


Change

by 474R1_FO



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Arguing, Arkham Asylum, Attempted help, Batman: The Killing Joke, Compassionate Batman, Confrontations, Feelings Realization, M/M, Mental Health Issues, batman tries to convince joker to let him help, reflecting on the past, similar to the part where he visits the false joker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22925989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/474R1_FO/pseuds/474R1_FO
Summary: I suddenly had the strongest urge to write a “what if?” Situation. I was thinking about the time Batman went to visit the false joker in order to talk about their relationship, and was met with trickery instead. I imagined that he’d try to do that again and how he’d go about it. Forgive me if the formatting is bad or the writing not the best. Its my first time posting one of my written works.
Relationships: Batman/Joker, Joker (DCU)/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	Change

Another night, although a familiar routine. A dynamic as venomous as the bite of a black mamba, yet more dependent than that of a god and its worshippers. For as we know, a god is nothing without its worshippers. And such is the reality when the script is flipped. The dark halls of the asylum were something batman was all too familiar with. Peering through the bullet proof glass from the shadows to see his biggest mistake, staring back into the very darkness he hid in. All too familiar. The familiarity was nothing sweet or comforting. It was disappointing. Looking into the eyes of his forsaken creation. He recalls the extended hand that joker never took. Although the hesitation was something he never forgot about. The hesitation gave him renowned hope in times it felt joker was better off euthanized like a rabid dog. With a rather gruesome death, pulled by the very man who made him. Tonight, the routine will cease to exist. A territory explored before but never again is brought forth. Knowing well that joker had picked up on the smallest of nuances of his presence. He stepped forward and into the flickering light that lit the hallway. A smile was quick to manifest as he was able to see batman in his purest form before him. 

“Batsy, darling. Come to visit without calling in ahead? I would look so much prettier if you had given me a little time to brighten up my lipstick and brush my hair!” He giggled as he spoke and sat up on his pathetic excuse of a bed. Batman kept his expression as expectedly stoic. Despite his silence, he was always observing and deducing. Jokers pupils blew up at the few seconds of them staring into each other’s souls. Batman felt strangely calm and understood in the moments of silent eye contact. It was something that happened more often than it should. 

“ I’ve come to talk to you, joker. “ he spoke in his monotonous tone as he usually did. Both of them approach the glass, desperately needing the space between them reduced. 

“ feeling talkative, are we? My, my. Now that’s something I’d been dying to hear you say! Do tell, darling. Nothing more spine tingling than that sweet baritone voice of yours!” He laughed loudly and then forced himself to quiet down. More interested in what his bat king wanted to tell him. He was his loyal jester after all. He’d give it all for his king to find success and amusement none other could provide.

“ I want to talk about our relationship. “ he took a moment to observe jokers expression. It became pensive and rather suspicious as this was something they hadn’t spoken much of together in a very long time. Of a matter of fact, joker was always the one to define their relationship in the special way he articulates his sentences. Of course, joker only keeps that expression for far too little before he grinned at Batman sincerely and pressed his hands against the glass. 

“Don’t tell me we’re breaking up, honey bun! We’re soul mates. Star crossed lovers. Romeo and Juliet! Haha!” He gripped on to the hem of an imaginary skirt and twirled around. “ my bounty is as boundless as the sea! My love as deep; the more I give to thee. The more-“ his little recital was interrupted by Batman grabbing his attention by merely saying his name. Usually, Batman would be much more agitated now. That wasn’t the case however. This was not part of the dance they’ve so painstakingly choreographed together. 

“ please listen to me, joker... sooner or later one of us will die. Wether it be you killing me or me killing you.” His voice was strangely soft, compassionate. Jokers eyes widened in shock that could not be repressed. Batmans face wrinkled with sincerity as he pressed a hand against the glass. “This isn’t what our relationship has to be joker. It isn’t what it should be... “ he continued to speak. Joker stayed unusually silent. Tonight was not a night of familiarity but something new. Discomfort ran through both of them. Both of them questioning themselves and each other mentally. Jokers expression came to soften as he was brought back to the night under the rainy sky. The offer and the laughter.

“Why are you trying this now? Again...” joker had a flash of sadness, a slight downward curve to the corner of his lips and then an angry grimace. “ Batman, get the fuck out of here! I told you this would never work! Honestly, I’m disappointed in you. This is our destiny. Faith. Blah blah blah. I’m much too far gone... and so are you“ his voice was initially loud and assertive but quickly seemed to trail off. Batman saw the timid man in front of him again for what seemed to be fleeting seconds. The words joker had spoken were undeniably the bare bones of their curse. 

“ You never gave me the opportunity to help you. I have the resources outside of Arkham. I can make you the man you use to be before I turned you into... this. It was selfish of me not to have offered this again because we are locked in a battle of pain and pleasure both of us can’t seem to break. This doesn’t have to end, joker. But it doesn’t have to continue like this.” He kept steady eye contact with joker. The emotion in his voice was jarring to say the least. For a moment joker genuinely believed Batman had been possessed. 

“ no. No no no no! What’s gotten into you?! THIS is what we NEED, bats. No domesticity. No small talk. No unsatisfying and unnecessary changes to something that is already so perfect!” He glared at batman with those intimidating pin dotted greeneyes of his. He pressed his fists against the glass with some force. 

“ Its not something I’ve wanted from the day we met. I can’t deny that it’s something addicting but no, this isn’t what we need. Listen to me, old friend. I come to you with no malice and the compassion you desperately need. A moment of weakness, it may seem to you but it’s a moment of strength for the both of us. There’s nothing I need more than your rehabilitation and your compliance.” He continued the caring tone in his voice. He saw how this effected joker. He could tell, deep inside he wanted a normal life but his devotion to batman, his king, was suppressing his own happiness. 

“ Batman... don’t do this. “ he covered his eyes and kneeled before him. The top of his head resting against the glass. “ this isn’t funny! I’m not laughing” He gritted his teeth. A flood of emotion came over him. Those same emotions that had caught him in the rain. Joker felt like he knew any attempts of fixing what little he had of himself. Of bringing back the clarity and satisfaction of a normal life would be disappointing at best. This was one cruel, sick joke. 

“ I wouldn’t lie to you, joker. Not even after being rivals for as long as we have has my... love... for you diminished. There wasn’t a day I wouldn’t promise myself I’d fix you. I’m finally taking the steps joker.” He knelt down to jokers level, continuing to press his palm against the glass. “ Forgive me for not doing this again and sooner. Despite everything you’ve done, you are a human being underneath it all... I have to remind myself you are. “ 

A moment of deafening silence came to follow. And for a moment, Batman was on the verge of taking it all back when he heard the choked sound of a sob. A sob that was desperately trying to stay hidden. The moment he saw that tear hit the floor, he knew there was still a sliver of hope. A chance of saving him. Joker quickly wiped his eyes and kept his gaze on the floor. Never had he allowed himself to indulge in loving comfort or acts of kindness ever since his life changing transformation. He ached as he recollected the past. A story he had changed more times than he could remember to others. But it was a story he, himself could never forget. 

Suddenly, the light ceases to flicker.

“ Save me, Batman. ”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this! If there’s any mistakes or formatting problems. The explanation for it is the fact I wrote this on my phone and I’m posting from there too. I had a hard time trying to think of a good way to end it. I hope it’s not too disappointing despite the simplicity of it.


End file.
